Upcoming Events
Third Annual Project Access Keys to Success Awards Dinner
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The Fairmont Hotel in Newport Beach |
Honoring Ranney and Priscilla Draper for their extraordinary leadership, contributions to the community, and commitment to instilling giving in others. This year, Project Access is proud to honor Ranney E. Draper, Founder of Spring Creek Investors, a diversified investment company, and his wife, Priscilla. Ranney was also the founder and principal owner of Diversified Shopping Centers (DSC) in 1966, a developer of 75 shopping center properties in the Western United States; Diversified merged with Donahue Schriber Realty Group in 1998.
Ranney and Priscilla are very philanthropic, having founded the Keeping Kids on Track Program in 1999 and the annual United Way’s Real Estate Luncheon, which generated in 2007 more than $500,000 from real estate industry-related individuals and companies to fund youth after-school programs in Orange County.
He and his family established the Draper Family Foundation (DFF) to support quality after-school or in school youth tutoring and mentoring programs that meet the needs of disadvantaged youth, as well as college-readiness programs and the Draper Family AVID scholarships. Over 20 local non-profits receive annual grants from DFF, including Project Access. He also serves on the Board of Trustees of Pomona College. Ranney and Priscilla live in Laguna Beach, California and Sun Valley, Idaho and have three grown children and four grandchildren.
Event Host: Jay Mohr
Live Auctioneer : Peter Jason
Jay Mohr
Jay Mohr is a multiple threat. Film, television, radio, writing, stand-up, and producing are all among the skill sets he has accomplished throughout a career that has spanned over a decade.
In the film world, he has co-starred in over 20 features, opposite some of the most powerful actors and actresses of our generation, including Tom Cruise, Jennifer Aniston, Eddie Murphy, Bill Murray, Edward Burns, Katie Holmes, Keanu Reeves, Kate Hudson, and Academy Award winners Angelina Jolie, Forest Whitiker, Kim Bassinger, Kevin Spacey, Ellen Burstyn, Christopher Walken, Helen Hunt, and Al Pacino. In television, in the scripted arena, he starred in the critically acclaimed Fox series Action (produced by Joel Silver and the late Ted Demme) and in the reality genre, he created, executive produced and hosted NBC's smash hit Last Comic Standing, now in its fifth season.
In radio, he often guest hosts Premiere Radio's Jim Rome Show, the number one syndicated sports radio program in the country and is a frequent guest on LA's number one morning show, KROQ's Kevin & Bean, as well as several other syndicated shows.
In stand-up, he sells out theaters, clubs and colleges all over the country, earning standing ovations for his keen observations on the world and the unique groups of people who live in it. The multi-talented Mohr first received audience notice with his dead-on impressions of Christopher Walken, Ricki Lake, Dick Vitale and Sean Penn on Saturday Night Live. Soon after that, he landed his breakthrough film role as a rival agent to Cruise in the blockbuster hit Jerry Maguire and followed that up in a touching good-guy turn opposite Jennifer Aniston in Picture Perfect. His other film credits include dramatic turns in the movies Playing By Heart, Suicide Kings, Seeing Other People, Even Money, The Groomsmen, Pay it Forward, and Go (directed by Doug Liman), as well as comedic leads in such films as King's Ransom and Are We There Yet?
Mohr published his first book, the highly praised Gasping for Airtime (Hyperion), a darkly funny, brutally honest memoir of his two years in the trenches as a writer and featured performer on Saturday Night Live.
Additionally, Mohr is well known for his respected sports work as host of Fox's NFL This Morning, narrator of the award winning Beyond the Glory, and Mohr Sports, a uniquely original weekly comedy/music/sports talk hour he executive produced and hosted for ESPN.
Live Auctioneer, Peter Jason
Excellent, prolific and versatile character actor Peter Jason was born on July 22, 1944 in Hollywood, California and grew up in Balboa. He attended Newport Beach Elementary School, Horace Ensign Junior High, and Newport Harbor High School. He originally planned on being a football player, but fell in love with acting after playing the lead in a high school production of The Man Who Came to Dinner.
Following his high school graduation Peter attended Orange Coast College and did a season of summer stock at the Peterborough Playhouse in New Hampshire. Jason then studied as a drama major at the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. More stage work followed with the acting group the South Coast Repertory Company, then Peter eventually made his film debut in Howard Hawks' final picture Rio Lobo (this movie remains one of Jason's favorites). Peter worked with Orson Welles on the uncompleted The Other Side of the Wind as an actor, boom operator, prop man and even cook for the cast and crew.
Jason has appeared in many films for director Walter Hill; he's especially memorable as the racist redneck bartender in 48 Hrs. Moreover, Peter has acted in several pictures for director John Carpenter: he's very engaging as the jolly Dr. Paul Leahy in Prince of Darkness and was terrific as underground guerrilla army leader Gilbert in They Live. Other notable roles include a sinister government agent in Dreamscape, the rugged Major G.F. Devin in Heartbreak Ridge, jerky detective Fedorchuk in Alien Nation, a newspaper reporter in Seabiscuit, and the US president in Alien Apocalypse. Jason recently had a recurring role as dissolute gambler Con Stapleton in the superbly gritty cable Western TV series Deadwood. He also had a regular part as Captain Skip Gleason on Mike Hammer, Private Eye. Among the many TV shows Peter has done guest spots on are Desperate Housewives, Dirty Sexy Money, Mad Men, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Nash Bridges, Coach, The Golden Girls, Murder, She Wrote, Married With Children, Rosanne, Dear John, Quantum Leap, Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, B.J. and the Bear, The Incredible Hulk, Gunsmoke, and Hawaii Five-O.
In addition to his substantial film and TV show credits, Jason has acted in over 150 plays and more than 300 TV commercials. An accomplished baritone vocalist, Jason has sung in such musical stage productions as The Music Man (this is one of his favorite plays), Stop the World, I Want to Get Off, The Roar of the Greasepaint, and Threepenny Opera (as Mack the Knife).
He's been married to his wife Eileen for 33 years. In his spare Peter Jason makes his own furniture with found, recycled wood.
We hope you will join us in this worthy endeavor as a sponsor of the Third Annual Project Access Keys to Success Awards Dinner. All funds raised from this event will benefit Project Access.
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Mixer With A Mission
Presented by Patrons for Project Access and Graziadio Alumni Network
Bluewater Grill at The District in Tustin
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
5:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Complimentary appetizers, no host bar
Tickets are $35 per person
Please RSVP by July 22nd to Jacqueline at (949) 253-6200 etx. 300 or via email at jmatson@project-access.org
Sponsored by Bluewater Grill
Click here for more information
Mixer With A Mission
Presented by Patrons for Project Access
Sino Restaurant
377 Santana Row, Suite 100
San Jose, CA 95128
Monday, September 15, 2008
5:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Complimentary appetizers, no host bar
Tickets are $35 per person
Please RSVP by July 22nd to Jacqueline at (949) 253-6200 etx. 300 or via email at jmatson@project-access.org
